The Only Way
by TaylorNicole27
Summary: Zoey decides to search for other survivors. Along the way, she learns the true meaning of friendship, pain, and life. Sucky summary, R/R.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters in the story.

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I grabbed my satchel, and stuffed all the goods I could in there; canned food, accompanied by a can opener; two small blankets, neatly tucked; medical equipment, ointments, bandages, Tylenol; several bottles of water. The satchel was still somewhat light, which would help my agility.

I walked around the bar's counter, and checked under the counter. Nada. I stepped over broken glass bottles, and around the knocked over pool table. I walked into the back office, and checked the table. Nothing. I walked over to the bookshelf, and looked behind it.  
Bingo.

I grabbed the ax from its' position propped behind the bookshelf. I hurried out of the office, and towards the bar's entrance. I peek through the window on the door, and see that the coast is clear. I burst through the door, and run to the nearest alley.

I walked along the wall, ax in hand. My breathing is all sorts of jacked, and running has never been my strong suit. I peeked around the corner, my eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of the alley. A few infected lingered, clawing walls slowly, or just stumbling over each other. I held my breath, and charged.

I lifted the ax, and planted it into the first zombie's head. She fell limp, and I removed my ax from her. I then proceeded to swing at the second zombie's neck. It went halfway through, with a wet thump, and he also fell limp.

I didn't notice the wheezing from above me. A slimy appendage wrapped around my waist, and jerked my body upwards. I shrieked, and my world was suddenly upside down. My grip on my gun loosened, and it fell from my arms. I was lifted, higher and higher, to an unknown location.

I was suddenly hanging, the slimy appendage slipping up, over my chest, and constricting around my neck. I slammed my feet against the wall, hoping for traction, but it was no use. I gurgled, a foreign noise rushing from my throat. I clawed at the constriction, slime under my fingernails.

I heard gunshots, and tried to look past the thick, slimy constriction. Smoke clouded my vision, and the appendage let go of me. I felt the wind whip my cheeks as I fell, several floors to the ground. I heard a snap, and my vision went black.

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**A/N**: Well, here you go. This is a work-in-progress, obviously. The title won't make sense for a while, and this story is far from over. Please R/R, and follow the story for updates! Thanks! (:  
-TN27


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Disclaimed.

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"What should we do with her?"

"She's extra baggage, she's just going to slow us down."

"Hold up. You're not contemplating just leaving her here, are you?"

"Well, yeah!"

"You're insane. She's vulnerable here, you can't just leave her to die!"

"You guys are bein' ridiculous! She's not goin' to be left here, and that's that."

* * *

I stirred, my head pounding. Without thinking, I tried to sit up, just to slam my head down against the surface I was on. My throat was raw and dry, and the groan I tried to release came out as a squawk.

"Woah, easy there," a dark skinned man said, rushing over. He leaned over, peering at me, and called someone over. Another man approached, about middle-aged, a cigarette hanging from his lower lip. He grabbed a bottle of some type of pill, and poured three into his palm. He had a small glass of water in his other hand, and nodded at the dark skinned man.

"Louis, lift her up." Louis did exactly that, and supported my neck with his hand. He scooted me back against a wall, and I finally got a look at myself, and the surrounding area. I saw bloody bandages all around the bed I was on. Bandages wrapped around my legs, arms. Purple, black, and blue bruises covered almost every inch of my body, and it hurt to breathe.

"You broke four of your ribs, n' pretty beaten up by that Smoker," said the middle-aged man. He handed me the pills, and the glass of water. I looked up, and saw another man across the room. He had an Auto Shotgun in his hands, and he didn't look very happy.

"I'm Bill," The middle-aged man stated, "n' that's Louis," He pointed to the dark skinned man. "n', Francis is over there," He proceeded to point to the man with the Shotgun. Francis stepped forward, and scanned me over with his calculating brown eyes.

"How long do you plan on holding us up?" He grumbled, shifting his weight from feet to feet.

"Not much longer.." I said, coughing violently. I ignored the pain in my legs, and swung them over the edge. I planted my feet on the ground, closed my eyes, and put all my power into standing up.

I wobbled, and then crumbled like a cookie onto the ground. Louis grabbed the undersides of my arms, and gently pulled me back onto the bed.

"Woah, hold up." Louis said, taking the glass of water and pills from Bill, and folding them into my hands. I chug the water, and chase the pills. Francis looks at me with disgust, and clomps out of the room, slamming the door.

I leaned back, my head making a 'thud' against the hollow walls. I'm never going to survive this outbreak.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: Disclaimed.

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I've recovered rather quickly, but there's the occasional electrifying pain that jolts through my body. I walked around the apartment the crew had carried me to. It was pretty nice, and relatively close to the bar. Looks like I hadn't gone far after all. We had the whole place to ourselves, it had been evacuated a week or two ago, with the exception of a few corpses.

I walked over to a knocked over vending machine, stepped over it, and walked down the hallway. I finally saw the door I had been eyeing for days now come into my view. In silver, it read 'Basement'. I slowly creaked the door open, and slipped inside.

Bill told me to stay away from the basement. "Now, in yer best interest, it's best to avoid that basement, you hear?" Bill reminded me of my late grandpa, and I've cried on quite a few occasions because of the resemblance. But, curiosity got the best of me, and I had to see what was below.

I felt the rail as I slowly slipped down the stairs, letting my eyes adjust to the unusual lighting. I reached into my belt, and pulled out a small flashlight. I let it shine on the dirty floor. It smelled moist, like mildew. I heard a heinous crying, like a young lady. Why would they keep me away from a fellow human being?

"Hello?" I called out, rushing towards the crying. I was running now, towards the poor young woman who was obviously in pain. The crying grew louder as I approached a closet, with a huge bolt on it. I lifted my foot up, and started kicking at the bolt. I was reconsidering the safety of the people who I'd stumbled upon.

The rusty chain gave way, and it wasn't until I opened the door did I realize the loud crying had quickly turned into an explosive growl. I flashed the light onto the young woman, crumpled on the floor, hands covering her face face. She was sporting two white garments, which were ripped and torn, exposing pieces of her discolored flesh.

She looked up at me, with glowing red orbs. She quickly stood, and screeched at me. I stumbled backwards, out of the storage closet, and slammed the door. I started sprinting across the basement, losing my balance too many times. I heard the door behind me break into tiny bits.

"Help me!" I screamed, rushing up the stairs. Halfway up, claws dug into my leg, and I fell over the guardrail, and onto the ground. The creature ran towards me, and her long claws tore through the back of my thin jacket. I howled in agony, and tried to kick her off of me.

I finally firmly planted my boot into her stomach, and she stumbled back. I took this opportunity to quickly stand. She came at me again, but this time, I was prepared. The flashlight was raised above my head, and as she approached, I sunk it into her head. She was fazed for only a moment, and I took this as my chance to run.

I slammed the basement door shut behind me, and ran over to the vending machine. I used all my might to move the knocked over machine towards the door. It wouldn't fend her off for long, not long at all.

As soon as the machine was somewhat blocking the basement door, I made a run for it. Up the three flights of stairs, and the pain was returning to my legs. I burst through the door, and the first thing I saw was Louis. I sprinted over to him, and embraced him, shaking violently.

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"And that's how it happened," I saw, my breathing still not returned to normal. I sat, Indian-style, with Bill and Louis sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Now, child, I though I warned y'er about that basement. It took the three of us to lead her down there, n' with only one of you, y'er vulnerable!" Bill chewed me out, grumbling curse words under his breath.

"I know, Bill. I should've listened, but curiosity got the best of me, and it was eating me aliv-"

"You're lucky _she_ didn't eat you alive, sweetcheeks." Francis said sarcastically, as he walked in the room. He sat down at the table, and starting opening cans for dinner. Louis stood, and walked over to help him.

"Just ignore Francis, he can be a bit of a prick sometimes," Bill said, turning and smirking at the twenty-something biker.

"Oh, shut 'cher mouth, or I'll flush your cigarettes down the toilet." Francis retorted, raising an eyebrow at his elder.

"Just curious, how long are we staying here?" I chirped up, trying curb the conversation.

"You're curious again? Geez, don't get killed then." I heard Francis say, popping a can open.

"Probably another day or two, but we can't stay here much longer. The crowd is getting bigger," Louis said, nodding his head to the window. I stood, and walked over to said window. I couldn't contain the gasp that escaped my lips.

There were at least two hundred zombies wandering aimlessly on the streets. Growling, grumbling, or barfing, they all made some sort of disgusting noise. Their flesh was pretty deep into decomposition by now, and was rotting off their faces, or turning a deep shade of gray.

"Don't act so surprised," Francis said, "This bitch is just going to get worse from here."

He was absolutely right.

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**A/N**: I've got so many ideas for the next chapter, so I'm starting right away. Don't forget to R/R, guys!

Desinix - Thanks for the review! I'm trying to make them longer, but sometimes I lose interest and cut them short. No worries, they'll get longer from here on out. c:

-TN27. (:


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: Disclaimed.

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I washed the bowls we used for dinner clean. I stacked them on the counter, to be reused.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna hit the shower." I called out, and headed to the bathroom across the hall. I stripped myself of my signature pink track jacket and white tee, and peeled my jeans off of me. The grime had soaked through my clothes, and had slightly stained my skin. I grimaced at my reflection. With one quick movement, I removed my hair tie, letting my brown hair cascade over my shoulders.

I stepped into the shower, and closed the curtain behind me. I turned the knob, and hot water came through the shower head. The water instantly refreshed me. I grabbed the loofah, and scrubbed my body of the grime. The loofah's scratchiness helped exfoliate my skin, and open my pores. The steam was so relaxing, opening my pores, and freeing the dirt and grime from the last week. I ran my fingers through my soaked hair, followed by shampoo. I scrubbed and scrubbed my head, hoping my hair would look somewhat clean after the shower.

I heard the door open, and groaned loudly. "Ever heard of knocking? Besides, I'm in here. Get out." I said, hoping the intruder would leave. Obviously, it was a joke, and they didn't know their boundaries.

"I said, get out!" I said assertively, poking my head outside the shower. The blood instantly drained from my face. There stood an infected, in all it's glory. The stench that filled the air was enough to make me vomit. His flesh was a pretty good ways into decomposition, with the left side of his jaw completely visible. His gums were oozing a black substance.

He looked up at me, his eyes vacant of emotion, and he started towards the shower. I screamed, grabbing for something, anything that could be a defense mechanism. Turning my head for a split second, I grabbed the shampoo bottle, lifted it up, and swung it at the zombie. He wasn't fazed, and walked straight through the curtain. It fell, with him above it, and me under it.

My head met porcelain, and the room spun. The infected clawed at my soaked body, and I saw blood run down my stomach and chest. I used my elbow to keep his head away from me, but that's all I could do. I shrieked, as he clawed me to smithereens. I clamped my eyes shut, just waiting for the end.

Then, it wasn't there anymore. I heard a gurgle, and the dropping of something. I felt the water come to a stop, and the removal of the curtains. Strong hands picked me up, and wrapped me in something. I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurry and rimmed in black. My head pounded in pain, and all I remember was brown eyes.

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I awoke, to violent shaking.

"Zoey, Zoey get up!" Bill said, propping me up. I was groggy, in pain, and apparently it was imperative to get up. Now.

The first thing I noticed was the imminent groaning coming from the hall. And the fact that the door was closed, and the groaning was pretty loud, meant something was wrong.

I stood, my legs wobbling, but still functioning. "I need you to collect non-perishable foods, pronto," Francis said, shoving two backpacks into my hands. I searched the cupboards for cans of food we could stockpile. I used my forearm to fork canned potatoes, green beans, baked beans, macaroni & cheese, and ramen into the first bag. Then, I went over to the pantry, and dumped cereal, raviolis, crackers, peanut butter, and pop quickly in the backpack. I then ran over to the microwave cart, and filled the second bag with bottled water.

All around me, the guys scurried to get supplies together. I heard the clicking of guns, the stomping of feet, but most predominantly, the growing groaning of the zombies. I rushed over to the bed, laid the bags down, and ran over to the stock of guns and ammo. I grabbed two pistols, and tucked them into my belt.

"You guys, I got medical supplies!" Louis called, running from the bathrooms with an armful of said supplies. Francis passed out guns to everyone, and selected his own last. Bill shoved the health supplies into the backpacks, and shrugged one on, and handed me the other.

"We gotta go!" Louis hollered, adjusting the shotgun in the sling. Bill loaded ammunition into his rifle. I grabbed a pistol from my belt. Francis swung the door open, and the shooting begun.

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**A/N**: Awe yeah, the fun is finally beginning. During the week, I won't be able to post as much do to school. But, I will post at least two chapters. ღ

**Desinix**: Thanks! I'll try. (:


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